Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Help! My Wife is Pregnant and Nesting, Again

I can’t help but to feel a little bad for my wife, or any woman pregnant, “with child.”

At 30 weeks she’s saying the strangest things, “how did this happen?” Can’t walk into a store without the belly bumping into things “did they shrink these aisles??”“Where did that jar/display/kid/truck come from?” And I feel bad having her walk anywhere since she has to lean backwards to move and sort of waddle. I want to attach a little wheel to the belly to help her get around.

I mentioned that once joking and she didn’t talk to me for 2 days. It’s been so long since our first daughter was born that I forgot pregnant women don’t like to joke around.Unless, of course, you’re accidently shot in the head for saying such things - then it’s funnier than Sandra Bullock with a southern accent.

The best thing for any loving husband, like myself, to do is just smile and say things like “yes” to just about everything and don’t question the weird “nesting” home improvement requests like tree removals, garage storage racks, painting the entire house, planting an orange tree, change the brakes on the car, and other irrelevant things.

Yup, I’m just taking it all in trying to enjoy the baby kicks, a glowing stunning wife, the ultrasounds, an eager 4-year-old that can’t wait to be a big sister, and the anticipation of going through whole birthing experience one more time. There really is nothing in the world that even comes close to the birth of your child.

My wife hits 30 weeks on Friday. She has come up with a couple big projects for her office (which will double as the nursery for a short bit), but otherwise it is ME in full-blown nesting mode. I'm trying to make it through final's week and all the ensuing projects that come with it, and yet the house is calling my name. I keep asking myself "How can I bring the twins into this dirty place?! How can I leave that closet disorganized? Why have I not packed away this item and put together that thing?" My wife calms me down, then points to my computer and demands I write another essay. "It's only week 30," she offers, "and there's plenty of time for you to go insane and be you normal, anal retentive self before they arrive once you finish your work." Sometimes that works, but usually for a maximum 10 minutes at a time.

I'm quite fortunate in that she's extremely good-natured about this whole thing. That said, the twins are starting to cause her even more pain. She can't sleep, isn't comfortable in any position and she's pretty sure one of the boys is trying to remove one of her ribs! I just wish we could fast-forward a bit because it's sad to see her in such pain over something about which we both feel such joy.

With your sense of humor, it's easy to see how much joy you'll all derive from the experience. It's inspiring to see, and I'm glad you shared the moment here. Makes me remember the not-so-long-ago time when my wife and I were in a similar place. Nothing but happies as I close my eyes and think about how it changed us all.

Oh, wow, seems like the time flew by....but then, I'm not the pregnant one or the bird helping with the nest! Enjoy the last weeks, you sound like you have it under control! Though I looked forward to our 2nd very much, I was a bit melancholy about it being the end of just us three, since my son was almost five when my daughter was born. It was the end of a time we would never have again and I somewhat grieved that as I prepared to celebrate the beginning of a new one. Reading your post just reminded me of that, now here he sits across from me working on his future in graphic design and my daughter is off with her friends with pepper spray in her purse...ah, the memories! :)

pregnancy was really funny for us too. My wife was tiny and her belly grew straight out, making her look almost normal from the front but ridiculous from profile! :-) I learned pretty quickly to not make stupid comments about it. Congratulations!